Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1069 Steel
Jizhou, Zunhua.

The sky is about to dawn, and a thick fog rises, covering the whole Zunhua in darkness.

Even so, around Zunhua City, a large number of horse-drawn carriages gathered and lined up for several miles, which could be described as not being able to see the edge at a glance.

Or cows, or horses, or donkeys, people were wrapped in wool coats, and the livestock were also put on cotton clothes, but they were still shivering from the cold.

Sitting in the car, Zhang Datong got out of the car tremblingly when he saw that there was no sign of the team moving: "Er Nuo, watch out, don't freeze this beast, feed him some fodder later."

"I'll go down and rest!"

"Brother Tong, this donkey eats better than me. My stomach is growling. It must be fine!"

The little man in the car said with a smile.

"Bullshit, animals are much more expensive than humans. They cost more than ten yuan a year!"

Zhang Datong cursed with a smile, then took out a cigarette stick from the car, carrying a bag and a small horse, jumped out of the car, and came under the roadside tree.

As an official road, there are branches on the left and right, even if the right lane is full of traffic, no one dares to violate it.

Beating and scolding is still minor, the key is fines.

Not surprisingly, many coachmen under the tree gathered together to warm themselves by the fire.

He glanced around and saw that all the small pottery stoves were faintly glowing red, exuding mouth-watering heat.

He didn't panic about this, and took out a wooden basin from his backpack, the size of a human face, and then took out half a catty of crushed charcoal from his backpack, Mao Rong, to start a fire.

After a while, it warmed up.

"Grandpa, yes!"

The big-faced coachman sighed: "The wooden basin is covered with iron sheets, which is much better than ours, and it is not afraid of being broken."

Zhang Datong smiled lightly, and Mazha took a seat: "This brazier is so precious, look at the iron sheet, I asked my brother-in-law to press it specially, otherwise who would do this business."

The ground is wet, so it is not easy to sit down.

"That's right, your jujube wood basin is equipped with an iron gall, just like that urinal with a night pearl!"

"Hahaha!"

Several people laughed.

After a while, they got together and immediately became lively.

You brought the pickled vegetables, I brought the fried beans, he brought the rice wine and salted fish, and soon a table was set up.

Several people were drinking and keeping warm, feeling very happy.

"What time does it open? I'm afraid we'll be frozen when it's our turn."

Zhang Datong complained.

"There is no way. This Wan's Iron Factory is the largest iron farm in Zunhua, bigger than the official kiln. I heard that the palace was involved."

"Hey, you are so ignorant. The Wan family is an imperial merchant. In Zunhua, there are more than a hundred large and small iron yards, but five imperial merchants operate the iron yards."

At this time, the big-faced coachman in the middle said proudly: "Think about it, this iron farm needs iron ore, craftsmen, and coal mines. They are indispensable. Without connections and connections, it will not be able to operate at all."

"Only the imperial merchants have this ability."

Zhang Datong nodded again and again, this is indeed true: "Then this Wan family, isn't it rich?"

"Wan Guan? Are you talking about his maid?"

The big-faced coachman said disdainfully: "This Wanshi Iron Works has hundreds of blast furnaces, 20 jin of iron and [-] jin of steel are produced every day, and they are all being snapped up."

"The quality of the key is not bad, not much different from the official kiln."

Zhang Datong nodded in agreement: "I wonder how much you paid for it?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent.

Zhang Datong smiled awkwardly: "Keep eating, keep eating."

Due to different places, different relationships, and different purchase volumes, the purchase prices are naturally different.

Pig iron on the market costs about ten yuan per catty, but the ex-market price is also much lower, and the final price is also different.

Because of the mastery of the piston blower, a blast furnace can only take three to five thousand catties of pig iron every day.

The price Zhang Datong got was only eight cents per catty of iron.

Generally, if he buys about [-] catties of pig iron, he will return to the county town and distribute it to those blacksmith shops to earn some forwarding fees.

You can earn around two cents per catty of iron, which is one yuan and six for a trip.

The atmosphere was warm again.

When he got back to the car, the boy's nose was red from the cold, and the sun hadn't come out yet.

However, the gate of the iron yard was finally opened.

The convoy filed in.

The courtyard here is already full of iron ingots that have been dissipating heat overnight.

The iron ingots are divided into two parts, one hundred catties of large iron ingots, and ten catties of small iron ingots, anyone can choose, and the price is the same.

Zhang Datong entered with the convoy, and when he came to the yard, he moved directly with his buddies. There were four large iron ingots and forty small iron ingots, so the donkey couldn't help sneezing.

The iron ingots all over the floor surprised the man: "How much does this cost!"

"This thing is not a gold ingot, you can't carry it away."

Zhang Datong sighed, there are as many iron ingots in this place as there are stars in the sky, the iron farm is really making money.

Enter from the west gate and exit from the east gate, and the guys who own the iron yard collect the money.

Under their fiery eyes, no one can escape.

After paying six yuan and four cents, Zhang Datong came out.

The two of them didn't dare to ride in the car, they just waited on the donkey and walked.

In a three-story building in the iron yard, a middle-aged man looked at the merchants selecting iron ingots with a calm expression.

And beside him, a 20-year-old man was full of bookish spirit: "Father, we'll be exhausted all day, and we'll sell them all in two hours. How much will it cost?"

"Pig iron costs seven or eight cents per catty, and steel ingots cost three pennies per catty. Together, they cost about 3000 yuan in silver dollars!"

The middle-aged man is naturally the owner of the iron yard, the imperial merchant Wan Ziliang, his brows are frowned, he doesn't seem very happy about the big sale of steel.

"Father, why is that steel so expensive?"

"Ignorant and incompetent." Wan Ziliang couldn't help but scolded: "This steel takes ten pounds to make, and only one pound of steel can be obtained from ten pounds of pig iron. Adding the materials, three cents is already considered cheap."

In fact, the cost of each kilogram of steel is about 500 cents. The iron farm can earn [-] yuan in silver dollars just by making [-] kilograms of steel.

If it is a hundred steelmaking, for three yuan per catty, the iron farm can earn one yuan.

"Father, selling steel is more profitable than selling iron. We can sell all steel."

Wan Boxian calculated, and couldn't help but suggest.

"You think I don't want to?" Wan Ziliang sighed: "There is no river in Zunhua at all, so how can there be a water mill to beat it?"

In fact, the dozens of water hammers on the Luan River, the largest in Jizhou, are basically occupied by officials, who are responsible for hammering ordnance.

The remaining ironworks wanted to build water hammer, but they were directly rejected by the government not to delay local water use.

Therefore, [-]% of the [-]% steel smelters on the market are official, and he couldn't help but be jealous of the huge profits.

Three yuan per catty for steelmaking, water hammer time [-] yuan, and save labor and materials, the cost is only five cents, and the net profit is two yuan and five cents per catty.

How much iron would he have to sell to make money?
To get rid of various costs and taxes, 3000 yuan is only about [-] yuan.

[-]% net profit.

As long as coal and iron ore continue, its profits will continue to be generated, which is like a cornucopia.

After all, even salt has to wait for a good weather, but iron is all-weather.

The benefits of salt and iron have been combined since ancient times, so there will be a mine supervisor in the Wanli period.

Therefore, the tax on the ironworks is high, and the court levies it according to the blast furnace. One blast furnace has now risen to 1000 yuan per month, and [-] blast furnaces are [-] yuan per month.

Evenly distributed, for every catty of iron sold for eight pennies, one penny is tax.

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, once Xungui's share profits are gone, their father and son have worked hard, and the amount is only 3 to [-] yuan a year.

Although this is a guaranteed business, but now it is not necessarily so.

"There are three more iron yards this month."

Wan Ziliang sighed: "Those merchants from the south took ships to transport them, they went down the river from Tianjin, and took the sea route to the south."

"I heard that there are still iron transported to North Korea, Japan, and even Qin and Qi. Many people want to keep their harvest in drought and flood. There are more and more iron yards..."

More competition means less profit.

You must know that in the past, each blast furnace cost only three yuan, but now it has risen to ten yuan.

The number of iron yards in Zunhua has continued to increase over the past few years, and has already exceeded one hundred, while the number of blast furnaces has exceeded one thousand at some point.

The imperial merchants who contracted and monopolized iron ore and coal mines also kept raising their prices. The price of coal was double that of the capital.

"Father, are you worried about making less money?"

At this time, Wan Boxian changed his simple appearance, revealing a bit of shrewdness.

"Yes and no."

Wan Ziliang sighed softly: "There are a lot of imperial merchants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so the most important thing is the ability to make money. The more money you earn, the higher the status of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"If you leave too much behind, you may lose your identity."

"Father, I was in the Imperial College recently, and I heard from some students that there are quite a lot of iron and coal mines in Liaodong, especially Fushun. We can open the iron factory there."

Wan Bo said seriously.

"Huh? Fool." Wan Ziliang said in a bad mood: "Let's walk dozens of miles from Zunhua to the sea, and to the south is the capital city. The imperial court's railway tracks are constantly being repaired. If the pig iron comes down, there will be no way out."

"When I went to Liaodong, who did I smelt so much iron for?"

Unexpectedly, Wan Boliang did not give up, but said extremely seriously:
"Father, there are more and more people in Liaodong and Jilin, how can they not need iron?"

"To the west of Liaodong is Chahar and Horqin. Those Tartars are in urgent need, not to mention there are so many savages?"

"Besides, I also heard that the railway track seems to be extended from Shanhaiguan to the northeast..."

"what?"

Wan Ziliang was very moved, he grabbed his son's shoulder: "What you said is true?"

"Seven or eight out of ten."

Wan Boliang said earnestly: "Think about it, if the railway track has been built to Shanhaiguan, will it be far away to reach Liaodong?"

"In the past, seventy-eight out of ten of the food in the capital was in Huguang, but now most of it is in Liaodong. This is a clear proof."

"That makes sense." Wan Ziliang fell into thinking.

……

In the capital, the dragon rises on the second day of February.

The year-by-year mud-beating ceremony starts again.

The emperor still urged the princes to dig the ground.

But let them drive the scalpers instead of actually going to the field.

The group of pampered princes breathed a sigh of relief, and then hurriedly began to plow the land.

Zhu Yixi was just in the shade of the tree, watching with the civil and military officials, eating and drinking, but leisurely.

It was the first time to spend February [-] with the emperor, Liu Xiangke and Yan Qiheng were cautious.

Du Yinxi and Yan Yingyuan were normal-hearted, smiling at the top.

The princes of Tianzhong are now the old Sixth King Wei, the old Seventh King Fu, the old Eighth King Zhao, the old Jiuxiang King, and the newly joined Old Tenth King Liang, Old Eleventh King Qi, and Twelve Kings Fujian.

The newly joined three kings have just turned sixteen. Although they are dissatisfied, they have done a good job and dare not be lazy in front of the officials and the emperor.

Wei Wang and the others were familiar with the process, and began to be lazy before they knew it, and chatted together.

The emperor took a bite of the grapes: "The permafrost has first melted, and it is another year of Vientiane renewal."

"Among the many princes, King Fu built a city for him in Chechnya, and Zhao State already has it, but Xiang State has not yet settled down."

Hearing the emperor talking about the vassal state, Du Yinxi naturally wouldn't be disappointed, and flattered him with a smile: "The King of Xiang is extraordinary in martial arts, he is indeed a virtuous king, and he is extremely kind when he sits in charge."

"It's just that I am ignorant and don't know where the world's territory is suitable..."

"Brunei is suitable."

As early as the 19th year of Shaowu, Zhu Yixi had already set the direction. Now that two years have passed, it is time to operate.

Zhu Yixi said casually, as if talking about a trivial matter like eating and drinking water: "Brunei is close to Qi, and also close to Luzon. It is quick to send troops from Luzon!"

"Your Majesty is holy!" After pondering in his mind, Du Yinxi knew that it was another tributary country, and it seemed that it was still in the sequence of the unconquered kingdom of Taizu.

But it doesn't matter, the emperor has violated the ancestral system too much, and Ryukyu has become Ryukyu Prefecture, so what is Brunei?
Liu Xiangke on the side was horrified. He and Yan Qiheng looked at each other, both of which were unexpected.

The emperor and the cabinet just decided to fight at will?

Du Yinxi made a plan at this time: "The old minister heard that there are only a few hundred thousand people in Brunei. The Luzon navy is enough, but the soldiers are not enough. The imperial court can mobilize thousands of Guangdong patrol battalions to help out. It is suitable for damp and hot. A good general will do.”

"The cost is estimated to be about one million."

"The rainy season in Nanyang is from March to October. The imperial court can make all preparations and set off after autumn..."

"Very good." Zhu Yixi nodded, quite satisfied.

This is the right cabinet minister.

Yan Yingyuan took it for granted, but Liu Xiangke and Yan Qiheng were dumbfounded.

Then, the emperor got up suddenly, lifted the tractor covered by the black cloth, jumped up, and started the ignition directly:
dong dong dong-

A few minutes later, white smoke rose.

The prince and ministers were really stunned.

Startled!

The guards pulled the princes away, and the tractor got off the field.

In almost a moment, this mu of land was plowed in sevens and eights.

"This is a tractor. It can be called an iron bull. It eats coal or firewood. It is not afraid of any roots or rocks."

Beating the huge wheel, Zhu Yixi praised.

But the appearance was over, and the emperor sat down.

At this time.Yan Yingyuan reported on the construction of the railway track. By the middle of the year, the railway track from Datong to Beijing will be completed.

At that time, the route from Datong to Suiyuan will start.

This road is a purely military avenue, and the local government does not pay much, so it cannot raise funds commercially, so it must be paid by the imperial court.

Zhu Yixi didn't care about this extra expense.

"The railway track from Shanhaiguan to Northeast should also be put on the agenda."

Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "The Northeast is the granary of Gyeonggi, so we have to take it seriously."

(End of this chapter)